Working casually through the creative process with Delorean

Barcelona-based four-piece electronic rock band Delorean were welcomed back to San Francisco on February 9th to enthusiastic fans as they played their makeup show from last year at The Independent.

Surviving a terrifying experience the night before their originally scheduled performance in September 2013, the Bay Area crowd was filled with anticipation for their return to the intimate venue. Regional Basque flags waved as the band nailed an energy-packed performance.

The band played songs spanning its past 14 years along with highlight tracks off its most recent full-length album Apar, keeping the crowd moving and elated throughout the entire performance.

Before the show, Showbams sat down with the band backstage to discuss the evolution of its sound, motivation and general serendipitous circumstances that has made Delorean the success story they are today.

Showbams: Delorean started out in 2000, released two albums and an EP with the band’s original members, and in 2007 reformed with Guillermo before relocating to Barcelona. At that time, your overall sound shifted from punk and electro to more computer-based compositions. Was this a conscious effort to separate yourselves from the old lineup or something that kind of just naturally happened?

Delorean: Well, it was something that we always wanted to achieve. We were also into electronic music and dance music and were always wondering about how we can achieve that sound. At the same time, we were also scared of using the computer, but when we started doing so, we realized that it was super easy and we were excited. It ended up being one of the main things that helped to shape and develop our sound. In all honesty, I don’t see that much of a difference. I think that if you put all our records in a timeline you can hear our development.

Showbams: During that time, the band started doing a lot more remixes, including songs from The xx, Cold Cave and Franz Ferdinand, which ended up bringing it to a larger audience internationally. Why did the band choose these artists to remix?

Delorean: It’s a mixture between us having some friends and getting the chance to remix some rarities that we liked and other artists who asked us to do remixes for them. Yeah, we were very lucky to be able to have worked with such big acts.

Showbams: Definitely! It also helped the band gain traction while evolving into the sound it currently has today. During all of this, you guys also ran a club night in Barcelona called Desparrame, with the idea to venture out beyond playing music and into event production?

Delorean: It was the idea of our friend, Kivo, who was our partner and friend in our blog and in that. Now it’s over though, we stopped doing the blog and the party. I’m (Igor) doing another party with him that’s similar — it’s called Calor — but we are super busy with the band, so we don’t pay that much attention to that. I mean it’s his thing and sometimes we DJ, but that’s it.

Showbams: Do you feel that involvement with such a scene back then helped you gain traction as a band or was it more just something fun you wanted to help out with as a side project?

Delorean: It was fun and at the same time, made the excitement around the band grow a little bit. We were not only a band, but there was also a party and people that we were in touch with and invite to the parties. I guess there was more excitement for the band then just us having an album, but we had other things happening at the same time. It’s actually not something that we decided that we wanted “to be like that.” It was just, at that time, we were involved in so many things: remixes, new material, the parties and all that. So yeah, I guess it made people be more interested.

Showbams: Around 2007, the band played at South by Southwest and shortly thereafter, it released Transatlantic KK, which was a variation of its second album Into the Plateau. What made the band want to re-release a version of that album instead of something completely new?

Delorean: Our previous two albums were only released in Spain and Europe, so this was going to be our first American release. We tried to do something special with the original track list and completely new artwork and decided to do that.

Showbams: In the years following 2007-09, the band released its second EP, toured with international artists jj and Miike Snow and landed a worldwide record distribution deal with the prolific New York-based True Panther Sounds, which also released your third studio album Subuiza. How did that partnership come about?

Delorean: We had friends in common and we … I don’t know, it happened very casually. We just had a lot of things and friends in common, and I think we were just all on the same page at that point in time. We were getting into things that were new for the both of us and were interested in the same things. We were friends with Dean and as we were writing the new material for Subuiza, we would show him the tracks and he would go like, “Oh, I like this one, I like that one,” making comments on the songs as they were being written. When the album was finished, we were like, “Hey Dean, do you want to put it out?” and he was like, “Yes,” so he just put it out. It was like we are friends and it just naturally worked out.

Showbams: The label is also the one that you remain on today, the one you released your fourth and most recent studio album Apar, which you currently are on tour supporting. You actually have been on tour for a while now due to a minor hangup while playing a festival in Mexico, which prevented the band from making its original date at The Independent due to being held hostage or “virtually kidnapped” on your way to San Francisco. Can you elaborate on the situation?

Delorean: What happened, it happened and we don’t like talking about it much. It’s just like a bad experience.

Showbams: Yeah, that’s scary.

Delorean: It was scary and bad and happened really fast. Afterward, we just went back home and stayed with our families. We’re very thankful for the people who helped us, but what we all think the best thing to do is not talk about Mexico and to keep on working. That’s pretty much what we do — you don’t want anything to stop you.

Showbams: At the end of this month, the band will be finishing its North American tour, during which it has been releasing a ton of guest DJ lists and new remixes. Are those a foreshadowing of the direction the band is going in or is there new material on the way as well?

Delorean: We’re working on new material and we did just put out a bunch of remixes and stuff, but I think it’s too early to say that I think it’s going to be the new sound or whatever. We’re just trying things and the more we work, the more clear we are on what the new direction is going to be. I don’t think those remixes can tell anybody anything because they still don’t tell us where they should go yet. But yes, we are doing new stuff!